Grillmarkadurinn, which means Grillmarket in English, is a restaurant located in the center of Iceland's capital city of Reykjavik. It doesn't have a street front, but behind another restaurant, so you have to walk behind the other restaurant to get to Grillmarket.
We were there at 5.30pm, when the restaurant just opened for dinner service, as we didn't make a reservation before hand. The place was quite empty at that time. The atmosphere of the place was very cosy. Warm lights dominate the place, very comforting in a cold winter evening.
As a norm, bread and cheese were served as the 'capitol'. The cheese was definitely worth mentioning. They served 3 types of cheese: cheese with sea salt, cheese with yogurt, and cheese with Iceland's iconic lava salt. This experience was really unique for me. First time having cheese with yogurt, which offered a layered sensation to the taste buds. The black lava salt was less salty than your normal salt. The waitress was kind to explain to us the difference between the different types of cheese.
Whale Meat Steak, ~USD69.00
The 'exotic' dish we ordered to share was the whale meat steak. It looked very much like your normal beef steak, but the texture was quite different. It was very tender, and the texture was fine and smooth, a quality that beef steaks don't possess. The cuisine here was a bit of fusion, providing soy sauce and wasabi as condiments. Personally, I prefer to eat it as is, without any additional foreign taste to the very fine flavor of the whale. It is a must-try if you visit this restaurant.
Lamb Fillet, ~USD60.00
Main course was lamb fillet. Lamb cooked to medium well, and served together with some preserved vegetables. The fillet was a bit on the tough side for me, and the preserved vegetable was a bit too salty. Maybe it was due to the local taste and weather.
The staff there were very friendly and service was prompt. Overall experience was excellent. Price-wise it was a bit on the high side, but hey, it is Iceland.
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